Obama Campaign Calls Ohio Early Vote Law Unconstitutional

July 17 (Bloomberg) -- Obama for America, the U.S.
president’s re-election campaign committee, sued two Ohio
officials over changes to state law that limit in-person early
voting for some people and not others.

Under the law, families of armed forces members and
civilians overseas can vote through the Monday before an
election, while early voting for all other Ohio residents ends
on the preceding Friday, a disparity Barack Obama’s campaign
claims is unconstitutional. The 2012 election will be held on a
Tuesday.

“This lawsuit, at bottom, seeks to treat all Ohio citizens
equally under the law,” Donald McTigue, general counsel for the
Obama campaign in Ohio, said today on a conference call with
reporters after the complaint was filed in federal court in
Columbus, the state capital.

Ohio, which has 18 electoral votes, has been a bellwether
in U.S. politics and no Republican has been elected president
without a victory there. Obama, a Democrat, won the state in
2008 with 51.5 percent of the vote.

The Obama campaign is seeking a court order invalidating
the deadline statutes. Named as defendants in its complaint are
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Secretary of State Jon
Husted, both Republicans.

DeWine’s office is reviewing the lawsuit, the attorney
general’s spokesman, Dan Tierney, said by phone.

Federal Law

Husted, in a telephone interview, said there is no
constitutional violation because federal law treats military
voters differently than other voters.

Expanded early voting is perceived to have helped
Democrats, especially Obama in 2008, more than Republicans, said
Daniel P. Tokaji, a professor at Ohio State University Moritz
College of Law and associate director of the law school’s
election law center, in a phone interview last year.

The state’s early-voting laws were enacted after the
presidential election in 2004, when long lines and broken
equipment forced voters to wait as long as seven hours to cast
their ballots, according to an Obama campaign press statement
released today.

With Monday-deadline early voting in place for the 2008
presidential election, about 30 percent of voters took advantage
of it, according to the campaign.

‘Confused’ Process

The state has two different deadlines because of “a
confused legislative process,” according to the campaign’s
complaint.

The Republican-controlled legislature enacted two laws last
year with provisions to move the deadline to the Friday before
the election for all voters, then repealed one measure in May to
halt a statewide referendum sought by Democrats, the Obama
campaign alleged.

“Whether caused by legislative error or partisan
motivation, the result of this legislative process is arbitrary
and inequitable treatment of similarly situated Ohio voters with
respect to in-person early voting,” according to the complaint.

Husted, the secretary of state, said he is taking steps --
including mailing a form for all voters to request an absentee
ballot -- to create uniformity and consistency in the state’s
election process.

The case is Obama for America v. Husted, 12-cv-636, U.S.
District Court, Southern District of Ohio (Columbus).